writing letters

When emails and social media just don’t cut it, 44’s Gemma Houltby argues that a return to the traditional art of writing letters is the future.

Christmas is a time of year when you take stock of the past 12 months and make an effort to get in touch with friends and loved ones, including those you may not have made contact with during the rest of the year.

This is exactly what I’ve been doing over the past few weeks as I’ve worked through my Christmas card list. Alongside the little notes I tend to add to each card, there’s a list of recipients who send – and therefore receive – an accompanying letter.

This is something I always set proper time aside to do, difficult as that can be in the busy festive period. But it’s worthwhile time, because a good letter should take a while to prepare and craft.

Writing letters: not just for Christmas!

Like many these days, I don’t usually go in for writing letters except for Christmas and the odd birthday. In an age where communication is instant and conducted via phone, text, social media, email and – more latterly – video camera, there seems little need or even space for writing letters.

Is that really the case though? When we communicate via these new media they tend to be fast bursts of information, often broadcast to multiple people. A letter, on the other hand, is an opportunity to share a more considered, intimate piece of communication. There’s no limit to content when writing letters and the recipient can read your missive at their leisure. And I still know a few people who prefer to remain unconnected to the likes of Facebook and instead relish the prospect of well thought through, personal correspondence. So it could be considered the perfect antidote to all of this instant, throwaway communication.

I used to write far more letters, which is partly due to my age and partly down to my love of writing. It was part of popular culture when I was growing up – children wrote into TV shows, poured out their hearts in fan mail and were encouraged to have pen pals. As I became a teenager, the frequency of my letters increased and my best friend and I would spend hours writing letters to each other (in the days before mobile phones and emails). These tomes contained our thoughts, ambitions and secrets. I still have many of them and, while we were hardly Oscar Wilde, they perfectly capture the people we were back then. I’m not sure I can say the same for my social media posts.

Slowing it down

We’ve all had to spend time away from loved ones this year and, for many, it’s been a chance to contemplate what’s important to them. Just as we’ve seen a resurgence in ‘slow’ TV and radio, with programmes dedicated to crackling log fires and leisurely boat trips, for example, perhaps our hectic lifestyles are calling out for a similar return to writing letters as a form of ‘slow’ communication.

Here are my top reasons for writing letters:

  • It shows someone you care
  • It allows you to take the time to say the things that matter
  • It’s a lovely gift and can be a fantastic surprise
  • It can actually make you happier (as research from Associate Professor Steve Toepfer suggests)
  • It’s not as hard as you think.

Putting pen to paper does take time and needs to be planned, but doesn’t every good piece of communication? For anyone who considers it too much of an effort, maybe it’s time to consider it more of an investment – both for yourself and for those loved ones you’re writing letters to.

Merry Christmas, everyone.